The Academy’s HIV Pharmacist™ (AAHIVP) certification program was designed for and is offered only to clinically experienced pharmacists who: a.) specialize in some area of HIV care, -and- b.) have at least some direct clinical activity on a regular basis. This clinical “experience” requirement may be satisfied by a wide variety of activities, ranging from full-time clinical practice roles, to providers who work in administrative roles but spend one or more days per month in a direct clinical care environment, on a regular basis. Recertifying AAHIVE-credentialed pharmacists who participated in the 3-year pilot testing rollout are also now required to have at least this minimal level of clinical care activity to earn the “AAHIVP” designation. This policy is not intended to be exclusionary, but rather to protect the integrity of the new certification, which in fact represents the certified provider’s experience (clinical care activity), education (ongoing continuing education), and technical knowledge (via the external validation of successfully completing the testing instrument). Moreover, the new AAHIVP certification testing instrument has been written, edited, reviewed and finalized by teams of highly-experienced practicing clinical pharmacists. While many professional pharmacists working in HIV care arenas - but who do not actively practice in any type of clinical environment - might perform well with the testing instrument, it is generally an indefensible practice to field an exam to members of a professional group for whom the test was not developed, and who did not have direct input or editing authority for the exam content. This same rationale applies in relation to the HIV Specialist™ exam, and its specific eligibility for only physicians, PAs and NPs – all of whom had a collaborative hand in the development of the exam content for that program. The Academy may, at some future time, offer a “non-practicing” pharmacist certification (with a separate and distinct designation), which would be developed by professionals who work in non-clinical settings, mirroring the professional environments of the intended test audience.

To return to the pharmacist certification eligibility page, click here.